Oiling indicator



Bea 1928.

C. EDWARDS OILING INDICATOR Original Filed March 8, 1926 gwtwntoz Jfl. Edwards Patented Dec. 4, 1928.

UNITED STATES P TENT oF xE a 1 I alums :nrccosn nnwannsor WATERLOO, IOWA, assrenoniro IOWA DAIRY sum- RATOR. COMPANY, or wATERLoarowA.

, OILING INDICATOR.

Application filed March 8, 1926, Serial No. 93,197. Renewed April 30, 1928 My invention relates to improvements in OlllIlg lndicators, and the ob ect of my improvement is to furnish convenlent means for visibly indicating the oil level in mechanism lubricating sources, particularly in those which include a splash-feeding system, i and which means insures constant'visibility.

of therelative static and dynamic conditions of the lubricant while themachine is opera ating.

This object has been accomplished by the means which are hereinafter described and claimed, and which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of in-v vention herein disclosed can be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the annexed drawings, FigQl is a side elevation of the housingv frame and part of the mechanism only, with' parts brokenaway, of a centrifugal liquid separator containing only improved oiling indicating means. Figs.

2, 3 and4 are drawings ona larger scale, Fig.

2 being a vertical medial'longitudinal section from front to rear of that part of the frame which contains the oiling indicator, and Fig.

3 is a front elevation thereof with parts. in cross section. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the apertured screw-plug of said indicator.

'2 While my invention may be applied to various kinds of mechanism employing an oil reservoir andsplash-feeding'means, it is especially adapted for use with centrifugal liquid separator, whose oil reservoir and splash-feedingmeans is ordinarily concealed from sight. vIt is-peculiarly necessary for the operator to be able to easily and frequently inspect the condition of the oili-ng, inorder to replenish the supply, in caseof any wastage. The :movingparts of a centrifugal liquid separatorare geared to produce a high speed of rotation in the drivenseparator bowl, wherefore it is :essential that all bearings be constantly freely flushed with oil.

The :housing frame 1 of a centrifugal liquid separatorlhas at-the bottom a part shaped with 'a'considerable depression toserve as an 011 reservoir 2 posltioned below and to receive'the drippings from the moving mechanism above. Immediately above this reser-' voir and with its lower part submerged in the lubricating oil therein, a relatively large gear-wheel-Ais mountediona horizontal shaft said wheel meshing with threads on the spin dle not shown of a separator bowl. The front of-the frame 1v has a relativel, large opening 6 covered by a removably at,- tached closurebody 7 whose middle art is convex outwardly 'with a concave ollow within to receive a part of the wheel 4 thereinto through the opening 6. g

- Referring tosaid Fig.2,lthe closure? has I w it an outwardly projecting boss 8 having In small cupped hollow 99-10 opening intoithe concavity thereof and the interior of: the 5 frame 1 slightly below the axis of, the gearwheel 4. The outer part of the boss Sis enlarged at 12 and-provided with a vertical bore 13 communicating, with the cavity 9 by a short sloping passage 11. Both the upper.

and the lower ends ofthe bore 13 are interior 7 I lythreaded, the upper to receive a screwplug 14, and the lower to receive a clamping- .ring 19. The screw-plug 14 has an annularly grooved dependingneck 17 whichterrninates in a conicalnipple 18, said nipple and the plug beingcentrally bored at 15, and the plug being transversely bored at 16, the bore 16 terminating in opposite parts of the groove 17, one end of the bore 16 with said groove being in communication normally with the outer end of the inclined passage 9.

Spaced vertically below said boss 8.12 is another projection .20 having in its upper surface a cupped recess or-socket 22 with a central conical. depression 23 in communicat1on with the outer end of a, horizontalpas sage 21 which extends lengthwise of the boss 20 but positioned obliquely toone side of its median line to open'into the interior of the frame 1 ust above the normal level of oil in the oil reservoir 2 and to deliver thereinto.

The cup 22 is below andsvertically alined with the bore 13 of the upper boss part 12,

of the same diameter, and a short piece 24;

of transparent tubular material, such as clear; glass, is seated in the cup 22 and in-theclamp;

ing-ring 19 above. g

y In operation the gear-wheel i is inrapid rotation and having its lowermost gear teeth submerged in oil at the-normal level in said reservoir 2 its centrifugal force causes its teethfto throw'upwardly a sprayer m st-of the oilvparticles, ofwhich a considerableportion subside into and are received-into the wall cavity of said closure 7. Thecup .10

' retains. a portion of the oil to overflow in a steady. small stream through the screws-plug passages 16 and by way of the inclined passage 11, while any oil received by the annularifgroove 17passes around the", plug to drain into the opposite end of the diametrical passage 16.

stream being coherent and cylindrical while As indicated in said Fig. 1, the oil'is delivered from the nipple 18 vertically downward into the center of the-cup 22423, the

the oil level in the reservoir 2 is normal.

From the cup 22 -23theoil drains through di'cate the condition of the static oil level in the reservoir whet-hernormal or in a wasted and lowered condition due to unavoidable wastage ofoperation of the inachine. The dynamic condition of the oilas lifted and sprayed upwardly bythe' wheel 4 is also indicated, to show that suflicient oil is splashedupon the upper bearings within said'frame 1, for when the stream 25 is full and normal, the other said conditions are right;

-'A scanty, dropping or lacking oil 25 denotes that the oil level in delivery at the reservoir 2 is insufficient and should be 7 renewed.

The glass tube 24 surrounds the stream 25 in-spaced relation and without contact therewith, so that it is notdimmed or rendered opaque by oil deposits as is the case with some devices employing glass win- (lows upon which the oil is splashed to denote its condition, andthe tube24 prevents some other devices where glass windows are entrv of dust. My device by its said construction eliminates the leakage which usually occurs in fitted in wall openings of the housing. In a centrifugal liquid separator the great speed of rotation of the wheel which picks up and splashes the liquid in the reservoir throws the samewith such force that. it inevitably seeps through such window joints and is wasted rapidly, while befouling both the inside of-the window and the outside thereof and the housing, whereby the window soon becomes so opaque as to be useless for visi- .bility of the oiling conditions within.

The solid metal of the closure 7 breaks the force of the projected liquid, which therefore passes the wall cavity and conduit pas- I sages therefrom slowly and quietly, without emerging in mist Orspray, but being deliveredi in a vertical solid coherent stream liquid back to the reservoir. As the coherent stream between the delivery conduit and'the drainage conduit is slow and non-splashing, the glass tubular inclosure is not splashed by it, bedimmed or renderedopaqu'e, and no cavity and liquid can escape to bewasted'because of the tight clamping seatingof thistube. This coherentstream in passing through the tube of glass surrounding itis thushalways visible therethrough from a Cl1$tt11166,fllltl any scantl ness of delivery or cessation thereof warns of the necessity for replenishing the reservoir, which has lowered so that the propelling wheel does not dip into it'farenough or not at all. "Having described my invention, what I claim as new, ters Patent, is:

anddes'ire to secure by Let- 1, In combinatlon, a housing having a wall i an open top liquid reservoir, a rotatablewheel in said housing adapted to engage liquid in said reservoir anddischarge it'into said wall cavity, a valve-controlled conduit for delivering liquid from saidcavity outwardly and downwardly in acoherent" vertical; stream, and a conduit having an outeropen endto receive said coherent stream and drain it. into said reservoir, said coherent stream being visible between said conduits from the outside of said housing-.1

2. In combination, a housing having a wall cavity with acupped bottom and an open top liquid reservoir, a rotatable wheel in said housing adapted to engage liquid in said reservoir and discharge it into said wall cavity,

a conduit for delivering liquidtrom'the F cupped bottom of saidlcavity outwardly and downwardly in a coherent stream, a conduit.

having an outeropen end to receivesaid coherent stream withoutsplashmg and drain it into said reservoir, and'atransparent vertical tubular inclosure surrounding and spaced from said coherent-stream and-in closed connection with i said conduits.

j 3. In combination, a housinghaving a wall cavity and an open top liquidreservoir, a

frotatablefbo dy in said holusing adapted to engage liquid in saidreservoiriand discharge 1t 1nto said wall cav1ty,sa1d housing having the opposed ports of v i a conduit passage anda" vertical open ended bore comm'unicatlng therewith and by way;

of the conduit with the wall cavity, a rota-t able vertically adjustable plug fitting said bore and having'a passage therein for vari able communication w th said conduit passage and opening downwardly to deliver downwardly acoherent stream of liquid, and

a conduit having an open outer endadapted to 5 receive said coherent i stream without splashing and drain it into said reservoirl 4. In combination, ahousing having a conduit inits wall and having in its lowerpart V 7 a liquid reservoir, a movable element in said into the dralnage condult which conducts the housing adapted to engage'ithe liquid inthe reservoir and splash V itiiatosaid conduit liver liquid downwardly in "a coherent "unsplashing stream, a conduit having an open therefrom and drain it back into said reservoir, and a transparent removable inclesure for the VlSlble portion of said coherent stream seated between said opposed conduits and spaced from the included stream to render the stream visible from theioutside of 10 the housing and through the inclosure wall.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

JAMES MCGOSH EDWARDS. 

